Page 263 of Sigils & Spells

“No, that’s not it. I just think it’s hospitable to offer food to a guest.”

“Hmm. Cuz training men is something you’re so good at.” Harvey muttered his words, but I heard them well enough.

And I laughed. “Maybe I should try cookies instead of bread?

“How about cake?”

“There’s an idea.”

“I was joking.”

I scoffed.

Someone pounded on the academy’s front door, and my heart skipped a beat. Who would be visiting me in the daylight?

I exhaled slowly. “You better not be right about things getting worse,” I said to Harvey.

I got up, but before I could take a step, I heard the front door crash open. A second later my office door smashed into the wall. Two big men strode towards me with fire in their eyes. With a sigh, I sat down and folded my hands on my lap.

Of course, it would be them. Only family would disturb my peace at—I glanced at the clock on my phone—six in the morning. My two brothers-in-laws marched to my desk as if the mahogany piece of furniture were an enemy to be seized and stared down their official noses at me. If I didn’t love them, I might have squirmed. But I knew their growls to be worse than their bites, at least as far as I was concerned.

On the right stood Gavin McGee, my sister Jane’s werewolf mate. He was the norm police chief in Mystic Keep, a big guy built to handle trouble. The glint in his eye made me cringe. Clearly, he considered me to be a problem. No one messed with the peace in his small town. His official blue uniform fit snugly over his muscular frame but didn’t hide his scuffed cowboy boots. He growled loud enough to shake my teaching license hanging on the wall behind me.

“Good morning, to you too,” I said.

Standing to his left, Donovan O’Reilly quirked a black brow. A warlock warrior with a legendary reputation, he had married my oldest sister, Merlina. He tossed back his magical cloak over his shoulder, revealing a lean, hard body fitted with top-of-the-line battle gear. No doubt this was an instinctual move he used to intimidate people he interrogated, but it did little to impress me. I had heard him coo to his baby son a few nights ago and knew just how soft a heart hid beneath the Kevlar gear.

Donovan’s Irish blue eyes sizzled with anger. “Rebel! This place is trouble.”

“And so are you two,” I said.

I glanced from one to the other and smiled. “I was just about to call you.” I figured that would make them feel better, as they were always telling me I should rely on them.

“There’s been nothing but problems sincethis placeopened,” said Gavin. His nose wiggled as if he picked up a scent.

“Ah come on. That’s not completely true,” I said. There was never a dull night in my school for delinquent vampire teenagers, but we weren’t the only source of trouble. I cleared my throat. “We all know the real truth. There’s been unrest in Mystic Keep before I came to town. Ever since it became a haven for magic folk trouble has stirred. My school is just a … touch of whip cream on that sundae.”

Donovan pinched the bridge of his nose. “We were told there’s been an incident here.”

“Who contacted you?”

“It was an anonymous tip,” said Gavin, his gaze drifted to the window and whipped back to me. “But since your phone is off, we decided to pay you a personal visit.”

They both stared at me.

I looked past them at Harvey, still sitting in the corner. He shrugged.

“Perhaps you would like to sit down for this,” I said as I opened the file on my desk.

Donovan sat on the edge of my desk with a grumble. Gavin strolled to the window and stared outside.

“I was away for one day and one night,” I said. “When I came back…” I stopped to take a deep breath. “I found this file folder on my desk.” I didn’t tell them about Alessandro visiting me because that would raise their hackles. The less they knew about my relationship with him, the better. They knew Alessandro bankrolled Fangsters, but they didn’t know he’d blackmailed me to run it.

“Where did you go?” muttered Gavin.

I huffed. “Seattle, not that it matters.”

“Is that where you got the black eye?” asked Donovan.

---